Etsy Seller Interview with Esther of Quantockinspiration

How Quantockinspiration got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hi, I’m Esther, and I am the owner and creator of QuantockInspiration. I make and sell handmade items, specializing in decoupage bottle crafts. I live in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, UK, and the idea formed after becoming rather disillusioned with being a police officer. I have always enjoyed making things and drawing, so I decided it was time for a complete career change. I am lucky that I had such a supportive husband, so I was able to leave my job and focus on what I wanted to do. At first it didn’t occur to me (or even know about) selling platforms. I had created a Facebook page and didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing, but one of my friends saw something in my creations and suggested I open an Etsy shop. I like to recycle as many items as I can and like to have a countryside feel to my shop, hence the name ‘Quantock Inspiration." I opened my shop in May 2019.

At first, I was making all sorts of silly knick-knacks and stuff, and I didn’t know what I really wanted to focus on—I wanted to make a variety of things! I am prepared to admit that I went into it totally blind and oblivious to what I needed to do to get noticed and make that first precious sale.

As I said before, I like to recycle, and some of my original products were made using things that I found on the beach, for example, like shells, interesting-looking pebbles, etc., but then I really got into decoupage. I buy a lot of my materials from other Etsy sellers, like the napkins, and from my local craft stores; everything else is recycled. I use old newspapers for packaging, for example, although I buy my packing boxes brand new. I make and sell lots of different things, but my main niche products are my decoupage wine bottle lamps.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

I love my bottle lamps, and I am always looking to grow the line that I have. I also love the knitwear that I have created and my jewelry. I have such a variety of things that it is hard to pick them out. I sublimate and print using pyrography too, and although I sell these items, it is much less frequent than the bottle crafts. I make sure that the bottles are really unique, and I research the market to make sure I am not doing a design similar to someone else's. I also love my wood slice decoupage coasters, and they sell well.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

It took a couple of months to get my first sale. It was quite something, and I panicked! However, I got the item to the customer and suddenly felt like I had climbed onto the bottom rung of the ladder. It was slow going; I basically didn’t know anything. I had to learn from scratch. I read every article I could find online and learned about SEO and social media marketing. I read lots of books on my kindle every night about selling, starting your own business, and marketing strategies; it just went on and on. I also wanted to build my own website. Talk about running before I could walk! I signed up for Erank (and now Alura) in order to find out more about SEO and improve my shop. It is also good for tracking my competitors. Things really took off during the pandemic. I had more time to devote to it as we couldn’t go anywhere and everyone took to buying things online. Reviews are everything too; it gives others confidence in your product, so they are much more likely to make that purchase if there are some stonking comments attached to it. I also like to give great customer service and build rapport with my shoppers.

Today I use just about every main social media platform there is, and in the early days it was a hard slog, creating the content, posting daily, and trying to build up a following. Christmas is a particularly busy time for me; everything pretty much takes a back seat at that time of year as it is really full-on. I use Outfy to automatically generate posts now, as it saves me so much time. I can link all my platforms together, so I don’t have to spend time on each one. Marketing is a full-time job, and I don’t have the hours to devote to it. Thankfully, I have reached a point where I have regular daily sales, so it is not a disaster if I don’t do any marketing that day. I also use Etsy ads, but only for £1.50 a day.

Managing Quantockinspiration

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I am a one-woman outfit, so I have to do everything. I make, market, and pack or send my own product in my living room. I use my mobile phone for my photography and use the editing suite on my phone to create great images for my listings. I have a 12-year-old daughter who needs my time and a small holding with a variety of animals that also require my attention each day, so it is great that I can work my job around all of that. Occasionally, my daughter likes to earn some extra pocket money, so she will help me with the packing. I use Royal Mail Click and Drop, which is fantastic. I print my own labels at home onto gummed paper and print my own packing slips, business cards, etc. Using click and drop also gives me a tracking code so I can make sure every parcel gets to the recipient—I haven’t had one get lost yet! My local sorting office is only ten minutes away and on the way to my daughter's school, so I drop all my parcels there daily. They are also open on Sunday, which is a bonus. The click and drop app also does a collection service, but I like to try and do same-day posting where and when I can. I use the Etsy seller app mainly to keep track of and reply to any customers if I am away from home. I prefer to use my laptop for most of it.

I never go anywhere without a load of business cards, as people are always asking what I do. Each customer that makes a purchase is sent a discount coupon for their next purchase. I get a lot of repeat buyers this way. I make sure the abandoned cart email automation is on too, which offers a little incentive for them to complete their purchase.

The future of Quantockinspiration

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

I have gotten to the point where I have plenty of sales to keep me busy. I am satisfied with the income that I have and know that I can easily increase it if I want to. But that will come later on; I have to devote time to my family and have a little downtime to myself. I don’t believe in working 12 or more hours every day. My shop is open 7 days a week as it is, and as I mentioned before, the time running up to Christmas in October can be ridiculous. I don’t think I would get overwhelmed if it was like that all year! What I would like to achieve, though, is maybe to expand in the form of being able to employ a person or two; then I think the opportunities would really come into play.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

My advice to new Etsy sellers is to do their homework first. Learn about SEO, marketing, photography, and how to write great descriptions. Understand your target audience. Utilize as many tools as possible that will suit your kind of shop. Read books about online selling, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Maybe if I had done all that before I got going, I would have found it so hard and such a mystery!

I am a great believer in ‘if it ain't broke, don’t fix it’.  Once you are creating daily sales at the rate you are happy with, leave your listings alone if they are performing well for you. I believe too much tweaking and fiddling seems to upset the algorithm and can stop the flow altogether. It is a hard slog, and I have gone back to the beginning a few times now, and it has been a huge learning curve. However, it is important not to give up; you will get there, and when you do, I can’t describe the rewarding feeling and sense of achievement it gives you.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: It can vary from around £1,000 - £3,500

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: About half of the net profit!!

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 5%